Knowledge of DNA sequences has become indispensable for basic biological research and in numerous applied fields such as diagnostics, biotechnology, forensic biology, and biological systematics. While the initial advent of DNA sequencing significantly accelerated biological research and discovery, the present rapid speed of sequencing attained with modern DNA sequencing technology has been instrumental in the sequencing of the human genome and in related projects providing the complete DNA sequences of many animal, plant, and microbial genomes. Currently, next generation sequencing technologies have emerged to advance genome sequencing at unprecedented speeds, transforming biological research with a number of novel applications.
Random shotgun sequencing has been the typical method used to determine the sequence of a genome. The success and efficiency of this process is dependent on random fragmentation of DNA and cloning of these fragments to generate a shotgun library. In addition, DNA fragmentation is also the most critical sample preparation step required by all currently available next-generation sequencing platforms.
However, current fragmentation methods possess significant disadvantages that can cause them to be a weak link in the process workflow for both current and next-generation sequencing technologies. Inefficient fragmentation is one problem common to current fragmentation technologies. The resulting increased processing times and lowered yields can impart significant losses of time and resources when multiplied several-fold in today's massive, high-throughput sequencing projects.